Brewers trade SS Orlando Arcia to Braves

The Brewers were “in talks” on an early-season trade involving shortstop Orlando Arcia, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). A potential landing spot for the 26-year-old former top prospect wasn’t at first clear, but it now appears that the Braves are set to acquire Arcia, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Right-handers Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka are headed to the Brewers in return for Arcia, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.

While it’s a bit surprising to see a trade of any note taking place so early in the season, Arcia’s role with the Brewers has diminished in recent years. The hope at one point was that he’d be the long-term answer at short, but Luis Urias now looks to be the preferred option at that position for the Brew Crew. Arcia has also seen some time at third base this year, but Travis Shaw made the Brewers’ Opening Day roster and is expected to serve as the primary option at the hot corner.

Arcia is off to a 1-for-11 start to his 2021 season, but he turned in perhaps the best showing of his career last summer when he slashed .260/.317/.416 through 189 plate appearances. That said, it’s somewhat disappointing for that output to represent a career-best showing for Arcia, given that he once ranked among baseball’s top-10 overall prospects at both Baseball America and MLB.com. Arcia’s glove always gave him a decent floor, but his bat simply hasn’t come around as hoped. Through 1876 plate appearances at the big-league level, he’s managed just a .244/.293/.364 batting line with 42 homers and 39 steals.

The Braves obviously don’t have a need for an everyday shortstop — Dansby Swanson has the position locked down — but Arcia gives them a utility option with a solid glove. He has 4,250 career innings at shortstop, so it’s not a surprise that Atlanta would be comfortable sliding him over to either second base or third base.

Ehire Adrianza had been filling that role with the club, although there’s some uncertainty surrounding his status at the moment. Adrianza left the club to tend to a personal matter recently, and he was reportedly in the process of going through intake testing to return to the club. However, MLB.com’s transactions log indicates that Adrianza has been placed on the restricted list — the club has not formally announced as much just yet — which would suggest a lengthier absence due to non-medical reasons.

Arcia joins Johan Camargo and Pablo Sandoval as utility options off the bench for skipper Brian Snitker, although it seems unlikely that the Braves would carry all three players simultaneously. Both Arcia and Camargo have a minor league option remaining. Arcia is the more expensive of the two, with a $2M salary to Camargo’s $1.36M, and it would stand to reason that if the Braves are giving up some young pitching to acquire him, he’d get the nod.

Depending on how things play out for Arcia in Atlanta, he could be an option for them not only in 2021 but in 2022. He currently has four-plus years of big=league service, which means he’ll be controllable through the 2022 season via arbitration.